Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor who is now an election attorney for President Donald Trump, on Thursday (November 19) said again without providing evidence that millions of votes were shifted from Trump to Democratic rival Joe Biden by software designed to rig the election.

Giuliani links latest election fraud claims to 'communist money' from Venezuela

Georgia confirmed Democratic President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the Nov. 3 election in the state as it completed a hand audit of ballots on Thursday, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.

Georgia confirms Biden's victory in state as it completes hand audit of ballots

The counties won by President-elect Joe Biden experienced worse job losses, on average, during the initial wave of pandemic layoffs than the counties where President Donald Trump was strongest in his bid for reelection.

After the worst of the downturn in April, many of the most affected red counties recovered far more swiftly than blue counties did. By September, as unemployment fell nearly everywhere, blue counties were more likely to have higher unemployment rates.

The economy is usually a big issue in election battles, and this election season saw both historically low levels of unemployment before the pandemic and later the worst rates of job loss since the Great Depression.

Trump’s supporters said consistently as the election approached that the health of the economy was important to them. In exit polls conducted by Edison Research, among those who said the economy mattered the most across a range of issues, 83% voted for Trump, compared with only 17% who supported Biden.

This gap in unemployment between Trump and Biden counties plays out on a state level as well and has persisted even after many people returned to work.

Research has shown that Democratic areas, which tend to be more urban and have higher concentrations of service jobs, were particularly devastated by the economic fallout early in the pandemic. Many of these blue-leaning areas, including Clark County, Nevada, home to Las Vegas, rely on tourism. Miami-Dade County, Florida, is another blue county where the disappearance of tourists damaged the economy.

In states such as Alabama and Mississippi, blue-leaning counties also have higher concentrations of Black residents — a group that has been disproportionately vulnerable to job loss and has lagged behind white workers during the economic crisis.

This pattern, however, does not hold true in every part of the country. The state with the highest county unemployment rates in April was Michigan, with 1 out of every 3 residents in some counties out of work. Several of the worst-hit counties in Michigan went on to vote for Trump.

The unemployment gap in Michigan was short-lived: By September, the average unemployment rate for blue counties was similar to the average for red ones.

According to Steven R. Miller, an economist at Michigan State University, unemployment levels in the state can be at least partly explained by underlying seasonal trends. Rural Cheboygan and Mackinac counties, which had the two highest unemployment rates in the country in April, rely heavily on outdoor recreation and tourism. Both had high unemployment rates before the virus outbreak during the offseason months of January and February, but as people spent time outdoors for pandemic-safe recreation over the summer they bounced back. “Over the summer what was surprising is that tourism and outdoor activities actually picked up,” Miller said. “These northern counties had somewhat of a positive economic offset.”

Both Cheboygan and Mackinac counties went to Trump by more than 20 percentage points.

Those summertime economic boosts, however, will not sustain many rural counties through the fall and winter. While the economy has been slowly adding back jobs since April, the current surge of cases spreading through the middle of the country could squeeze the economy, including in places that have so far escaped the worst job losses.

The counties won by President-elect Joe Biden experienced worse job losses, on average, during the initial wave of pandemic layoffs than the counties where President Donald Trump was strongest in his bid for reelection.

The counties won by President-elect Joe Biden experienced worse job losses, on average, during the initial wave of pandemic layoffs than the counties where President Donald Trump was strongest in his bid for reelection. After the worst of the downturn in April, many of the most affected red counties recovered far more swiftly than blue counties did. By September, as unemployment fell nearly everywhere, blue counties were more likely to have higher unemployment rates. The economy is usually a big issue in election battles, and this election season saw both historically low levels of unemployment before the pandemic and later the worst rates of job loss since the Great Depression. Trump’s supporters said consistently as the election approached that the health of the economy was important to them. In exit polls conducted by Edison Research, among those who said the economy mattered the most across a range of issues, 83% voted for Trump, compared with only 17% who supported Biden. This gap in unemployment between Trump and Biden counties plays out on a state level as well and has persisted even after many people returned to work. Research has shown that Democratic areas, which tend to be more urban and have higher concentrations of service jobs, were particularly devastated by the economic fallout early in the pandemic. Many of these blue-leaning areas, including Clark County, Nevada, home to Las Vegas, rely on tourism. Miami-Dade County, Florida, is another blue county where the disappearance of tourists damaged the economy. In states such as Alabama and Mississippi, blue-leaning counties also have higher concentrations of Black residents — a group that has been disproportionately vulnerable to job loss and has lagged behind white workers during the economic crisis. This pattern, however, does not hold true in every part of the country. The state with the highest county unemployment rates in April was Michigan, with 1 out of every 3 residents in some counties out of work. Several of the worst-hit counties in Michigan went on to vote for Trump. The unemployment gap in Michigan was short-lived: By September, the average unemployment rate for blue counties was similar to the average for red ones. According to Steven R. Miller, an economist at Michigan State University, unemployment levels in the state can be at least partly explained by underlying seasonal trends. Rural Cheboygan and Mackinac counties, which had the two highest unemployment rates in the country in April, rely heavily on outdoor recreation and tourism. Both had high unemployment rates before the virus outbreak during the offseason months of January and February, but as people spent time outdoors for pandemic-safe recreation over the summer they bounced back. “Over the summer what was surprising is that tourism and outdoor activities actually picked up,” Miller said. “These northern counties had somewhat of a positive economic offset.” Both Cheboygan and Mackinac counties went to Trump by more than 20 percentage points. Those summertime economic boosts, however, will not sustain many rural counties through the fall and winter. While the economy has been slowly adding back jobs since April, the current surge of cases spreading through the middle of the country could squeeze the economy, including in places that have so far escaped the worst job losses.

Counties that suffered higher unemployment voted for Biden

President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday "more people may die" if outgoing President Donald Trump continues blocking a U.S. transition of power as the coronavirus pandemic worsens, and he urged Congress to pass new relief legislation.

'More people may die,' Joe Biden says, if Trump goes on blocking pandemic cooperation

President-elect Joe Biden will focus on shaping his core White House team on Tuesday while outgoing President Donald Trump presses on with his increasingly tenuous legal fight to reverse his loss in the US&nbsp;election. 
 
Biden`s senior campaign staff have been discussing their roles in the transition and the new administration that takes over Jan. 20. Several roles could be announced as soon as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. 
 
U.S. Representative Cedric Richmond, who was a national co-chair of Biden`s campaign and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, is expected to join the administration in a senior capacity, as is Steve Ricchetti, who has long been a close adviser to Biden, the person said. Richmond`s move would leave his Louisiana congressional seat open. 
 
Jen O`Malley Dillon, who was brought in early this year as Biden`s campaign manager and is the first woman to lead a winning Democratic presidential bid, is expected to be named a deputy chief of staff. 
 
Other roles could also be disclosed this week though Biden could still be weeks away from finalizing his slate of cabinet appointees. 
 
None of the potential appointees could be reached for comment. A spokesman for Biden`s transition team declined to comment. 
 
Biden, a Democrat, is also set to receive a briefing on national security threats from his own advisers. Trump, a Republican who has not conceded the Nov. 3 election, has blocked him from receiving classified intelligence briefings usually provided to the successor in a transition. 
 
General Services Administrator Emily Murphy has not recognized Biden as the "apparent winner." A spokeswoman for Murphy said the administrator was following precedent and would "make an ascertainment when the winner is clear." Critics say Murphy is holding off under pressure from the White House, a claim rejected by administration officials. 
 
The Republican Trump has remained angry and defiant on social media even as some prominent Republicans have asserted that Biden should be considered the president-elect. 
 
Trump`s national security adviser, Robert O`Brien, said on Monday he would ensure a professional transition in the likely event that Biden is deemed the winner. 
 
"If the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner, and obviously things look like that now, we`ll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council," O`Brien told the Global Security Forum. 
 
At a news conference on Monday, Biden again called upon Trump to cooperate with the transfer of power, saying that the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic meant lives were in the balance. 
 
"More people may die if we don`t coordinate," he said. 
 
CLEAR BIDEN VICTORY 
 
Though a definitive winner from the election did not emerge until four days later, Biden`s victory has become clearer as more votes have been counted. 
 
Biden won the legally meaningless but symbolically important national popular vote by at least 5.6 million votes, or 3.6 percentage points, with some ballots still being counted. 
 
In the all-important state-by-state Electoral College, Biden surpassed the 270 votes needed to win with 306 to Trump`s 232. 
 
As states work to certify those results before a Dec. 8 deadline, Trump and his supporters have claimed he was cheated by fraud, but so far those baseless allegations have failed to gain traction in court. 
 
One of Trump`s legal challenges will get a hearing on Tuesday in a Pennsylvania federal court, where another legal setback would likely doom his already long-shot prospects. 
 
U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann will hear arguments in a Trump campaign lawsuit that seeks to halt the state`s top election official from certifying Biden as the winner. 
 
In order to remain in office, Trump would need to overturn results in at least three of the closely contested states in unprecedented fashion, and has no apparent legal means to do so. 
 
Trump supporters are also clinging to hope that recounts could reverse state results, even though experts have said Biden`s margins appear insurmountable. 
 
Georgia is undertaking a manual recount on its own, but in Wisconsin the Trump campaign would have to pay for a recount in advance. The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Monday estimated such a recount would cost $7.9 million. 
 
Georgia`s top elections official, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, told the Washington Post he has come under pressure from fellow Republicans who have launched false fraud allegations or questioned the legality of valid votes. 
 
He also said he and his wife have received death threats. 
 
"Other than getting you angry, it`s also very disillusioning, particularly when it comes from people on my side of the aisle," Raffensperger told the Post. "Everyone that is working on this needs to elevate their speech. We need to be thoughtful and careful about what we say."

President-elect Joe Biden will focus on shaping his core White House team on Tuesday while outgoing President Donald Trump presses on with his increasingly tenuous legal fight to reverse his loss in the US election.

President-elect Joe Biden will focus on shaping his core White House team on Tuesday while outgoing President Donald Trump presses on with his increasingly tenuous legal fight to reverse his loss in the US election. Biden`s senior campaign staff have been discussing their roles in the transition and the new administration that takes over Jan. 20. Several roles could be announced as soon as Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. U.S. Representative Cedric Richmond, who was a national co-chair of Biden`s campaign and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, is expected to join the administration in a senior capacity, as is Steve Ricchetti, who has long been a close adviser to Biden, the person said. Richmond`s move would leave his Louisiana congressional seat open. Jen O`Malley Dillon, who was brought in early this year as Biden`s campaign manager and is the first woman to lead a winning Democratic presidential bid, is expected to be named a deputy chief of staff. Other roles could also be disclosed this week though Biden could still be weeks away from finalizing his slate of cabinet appointees. None of the potential appointees could be reached for comment. A spokesman for Biden`s transition team declined to comment. Biden, a Democrat, is also set to receive a briefing on national security threats from his own advisers. Trump, a Republican who has not conceded the Nov. 3 election, has blocked him from receiving classified intelligence briefings usually provided to the successor in a transition. General Services Administrator Emily Murphy has not recognized Biden as the "apparent winner." A spokeswoman for Murphy said the administrator was following precedent and would "make an ascertainment when the winner is clear." Critics say Murphy is holding off under pressure from the White House, a claim rejected by administration officials. The Republican Trump has remained angry and defiant on social media even as some prominent Republicans have asserted that Biden should be considered the president-elect. Trump`s national security adviser, Robert O`Brien, said on Monday he would ensure a professional transition in the likely event that Biden is deemed the winner. "If the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner, and obviously things look like that now, we`ll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council," O`Brien told the Global Security Forum. At a news conference on Monday, Biden again called upon Trump to cooperate with the transfer of power, saying that the resurgent COVID-19 pandemic meant lives were in the balance. "More people may die if we don`t coordinate," he said. CLEAR BIDEN VICTORY Though a definitive winner from the election did not emerge until four days later, Biden`s victory has become clearer as more votes have been counted. Biden won the legally meaningless but symbolically important national popular vote by at least 5.6 million votes, or 3.6 percentage points, with some ballots still being counted. In the all-important state-by-state Electoral College, Biden surpassed the 270 votes needed to win with 306 to Trump`s 232. As states work to certify those results before a Dec. 8 deadline, Trump and his supporters have claimed he was cheated by fraud, but so far those baseless allegations have failed to gain traction in court. One of Trump`s legal challenges will get a hearing on Tuesday in a Pennsylvania federal court, where another legal setback would likely doom his already long-shot prospects. U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann will hear arguments in a Trump campaign lawsuit that seeks to halt the state`s top election official from certifying Biden as the winner. In order to remain in office, Trump would need to overturn results in at least three of the closely contested states in unprecedented fashion, and has no apparent legal means to do so. Trump supporters are also clinging to hope that recounts could reverse state results, even though experts have said Biden`s margins appear insurmountable. Georgia is undertaking a manual recount on its own, but in Wisconsin the Trump campaign would have to pay for a recount in advance. The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Monday estimated such a recount would cost $7.9 million. Georgia`s top elections official, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, told the Washington Post he has come under pressure from fellow Republicans who have launched false fraud allegations or questioned the legality of valid votes. He also said he and his wife have received death threats. "Other than getting you angry, it`s also very disillusioning, particularly when it comes from people on my side of the aisle," Raffensperger told the Post. "Everyone that is working on this needs to elevate their speech. We need to be thoughtful and careful about what we say."

Biden could name top staff as Trump tries to block transition

China's foreign ministry said on Friday (November 13) that it extended congratulations to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, who won the election that President Donald Trump has refused to concede.

China says it extends congratulations to Biden and Harris

India Prime Minister talks with US President-Elect <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/joe-biden-dials-asian-pacific-allies-reassures-american-commitments-342619">Joe Biden</a> will "happen in due course at a mutually convenient time", the Ministry of external affairs has said.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/would-he-or-wouldnt-he-johnson-is-relieved-that-biden-called-342661">Also Read:&nbsp;Would he or wouldn't he? Johnson is relieved that Biden called</a>

Indian Prime Minister Narendra<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/asean-has-always-been-the-core-of-our-act-east-policy-says-pm-modi-during-virtual-summit-342648"> Modi</a> has congratulated the US president-elect on his victory and appreciated his role in strengthening ties as the vice president in the Obama administration.&nbsp;

He said, "I look forward to working closely together once again to take India US relations to greater heights".&nbsp;

PM Modi had also congratulated Vice President-elect <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/kamala-harriss-husband-quits-job-for-white-house-role-342542">Kamala Harris </a>saying "your success is pathbreaking" and a matter of "immense pride not just for your chittis, but also for all Indian Americans"

So far Australia PM Scott Morrison, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, British PM Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Angela Merkel have spoken to Biden to congratulate on his election victory. 
&nbsp;

India Prime Minister talks with US President-Elect Joe Biden will "happen in due course at a mutually convenient time", the Ministry of external affairs has said.

India Prime Minister talks with US President-Elect Joe Biden will "happen in due course at a mutually convenient time", the Ministry of external affairs has said. Also Read: Would he or wouldn't he? Johnson is relieved that Biden called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated the US president-elect on his victory and appreciated his role in strengthening ties as the vice president in the Obama administration. He said, "I look forward to working closely together once again to take India US relations to greater heights". PM Modi had also congratulated Vice President-elect Kamala Harris saying "your success is pathbreaking" and a matter of "immense pride not just for your chittis, but also for all Indian Americans" So far Australia PM Scott Morrison, Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, British PM Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Angela Merkel have spoken to Biden to congratulate on his election victory.

PM Modi to call US President-elect Biden in 'due course'

President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday named longtime adviser Ron Klain as his White House chief of staff, his first major appointment, as he builds his administration regardless of whether President Donald Trump accepts the election results.

Joe Biden moves forward, names longtime adviser chief of staff

Georgia will re-count all paper ballots cast in the Nov. 3 presidential election by hand, the state's top election official said on Wednesday, a mammoth task that must be completed by Nov. 20.

Georgia to re-count presidential election ballots by hand

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he spoke to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday (November 10) about working together on tackling climate change and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

UK PM Johnson speaks to Biden, discusses COVID-19 and climate change

Since President Donald Trump won the White House in 2016, a shocked Democratic Party had been united behind the mission of defeating him. Four years later, with the election of Joe Biden, the divides that have long simmered among Democrats are now beginning to burst into the open, as the president-elect confronts deep generational and ideological differences among congressional lawmakers, activists and the party’s grassroots base.

The fault lines began to emerge within hours of Biden’s victory. Moderates argued that his success, particularly in industrial Midwestern states that Trump seized from the Democrats in 2016, was proof that a candidate who resisted progressive litmus tests was best positioned to win back voters who had abandoned the Democratic Party. Those tests included single-payer health care, aggressive measures to combat climate change and expanding the Supreme Court.

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“The progressives said we need a base candidate,” said Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago and White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama, referring to a nominee who appeals to the left wing of the party. “No we didn’t. We needed someone to get swing voters. If you campaign appropriately, you can make that a governing transformation.”

Moderate Democrats said they were hopeful the urgency of the problems confronting the nation would delay the inevitable reckoning the party faces between its ideological wings. Beyond that, they said that a disappointing showing by Democrats in congressional races — the party lost seats in the House and faces a struggle for even narrow control of the Senate — would give liberal Democrats less of a platform to push Biden to the left.

After a fiery call among members of the House Democratic caucus, in which some argued that progressives who have entertained ideas like defunding the police or “Medicare for All” had cost the party congressional seats, some Democratic leaders pushed further away from the left wing.

Rep. Conor Lamb, a moderate from Pennsylvania who survived a difficult Republican challenge, said the results should be a wake-up call to the left.

“What we heard from a lot of our constituents was that they do not like the Democratic message when it comes to police in Western Pennsylvania, and when it comes to jobs and energy,” he said. “And that we need to do a lot of work to fix that.”

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But after four years of pent-up frustration and energy, that may prove unlikely. By every early indication, Biden’s election has emboldened progressive energy, no matter the setbacks in the congressional races. There is an up-and-coming generation of elected Democratic officials who have been waiting in the wings, eager to take the lead in formulating a platform for the party.

After supporting Biden as a means of defeating Trump, younger and more progressive Democrats who have gained a foothold in Congress and among party activists are skeptical about his future administration. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, setting policy terms in a statement after Biden was declared victorious, said: “A Band-Aid approach won’t get the job done. We have a mandate for action on bold plans to meet these twin health and economic crises.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a leading voice of the party’s left wing, said in a phone interview that the next few weeks would set the tone for how the incoming administration will be received by liberal activists.

“I think that’s what people are keeping an eye out for: Is this administration going to be actively hostile and try to put in appointments that are going to just squash progressives and organizing?” Ocasio-Cortez said. “ I don’t envy the Biden team. It’s a very delicate balance. But I think it’s really important to strike a good one. Because it sends a very, very powerful message on the intention to govern.”

The fault lines crystallize the task ahead for Biden, who has long seen himself as a pragmatic consensus builder rather than a strict ideologue. In addition to the fractures within his party, Biden’s administration will also have to navigate a Republican Senate, unless Democrats wrest two seats in Georgia during closely watched runoff elections in January.

If the party doesn’t win those seats, an already divided Washington looks likely to endure.

Some moderate Democratic leaders urged the president-elect to head off any internal conflict by embracing policies both sides can agree on and reaching out to the left.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nine-things-the-biden-administration-could-do-quickly-on-the-environment-341877" hreflang="en">Nine things the Biden administration could do quickly on the environment</a>

“The first thing I would do if I were Joe Biden is I’d propose a $15-an-hour minimum wage,” said Edward G. Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania and a former chair of the Democratic National Committee. “That’s something that both sides agree on. That would be the first action on behalf of President Biden to show there are significant parts of the progressive agenda that need to be acted on.”

Given the two Senate runoffs taking place in Georgia — contests that will determine whether Biden will, like Obama, begin his first term with a unified Washington — Biden might be initially reluctant to embrace positions that could make it easier for Republicans in Georgia to paint Democrats as out-of-touch, radical socialists.

Biden has made clear he intends for his administration's Cabinet to be diverse in race, gender and sexual orientation — but a left wing that has become disenchanted with the inherent idea of representation as progress will be looking for concessions of power.

Grassroots political groups on the left had a dual message for the president-elect: Congratulations — and here’s a list of demands. Several signaled that they expected Biden to defer to some demands of progressives, not only by selecting people from that wing of the party for key Cabinet positions but also by excluding people with a Wall Street or lobbying background from the administration's hiring process. However, Biden’s flexibility in making Cabinet appointments sought by the left will be constrained if the Senate remains in Republican hands.

Jamaal Bowman, a progressive New York Democrat who will be sworn into the next Congress, took the view that Biden’s victory was not an affirmation of moderate ideology, but a testament to a diverse Democratic Party that had embraced the shared goal of defeating an unpopular president. He cited the work during the general election of progressive groups and candidates who opposed Biden during the Democratic primary, including young climate organizers like the Sunrise Movement — and said they should be rewarded.

“We have to move past the moderate-versus-liberal conversations and start speaking and moving together as a strong party,” Bowman said. “We have organizations like the Sunrise Movement and candidates like Jamaal Bowman who have gone out of our way to get Joe Biden elected.”

Ocasio-Cortez said she expected a long-term fight, particularly given the setbacks for Democrats in the congressional contests. She also cited Cabinet appointments as a way to measure Biden’s ideological core.

She said some people, including Emanuel, should not play a role in the party’s future. The former mayor has been floated by some in Biden’s inner circle to lead a department like housing or transportation.

“Someone like Rahm Emanuel would be a pretty divisive pick,” she said, citing his record as mayor on racial justice and his opposition to teachers’ unions. “And it would signal, I think, a hostile approach to the grassroots and the progressive wing of the party.”

It is unclear what kind of audience progressives will find with Biden and his administration. Throughout the year, his campaign sought to project unity through measures like a joint task force with supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, which led a campaign to adopt some of the left wing’s policy proposals, including plans around college debt. But Biden stopped short of the biggest ideas, like eliminating the Electoral College or embracing statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Some leading Democratic Party moderates said they supported many of the ideological goals on the left but, reflecting what has long been a divide between the two wings, urged caution, particularly because of Democratic losses in other races.

“We all have to take a deep breath,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, a state that Trump snatched from Democrats in 2016 but that Biden won back this year. “I know there are going to be people who are pushing for change. I’m one of those people who want Medicare for All.”

She argued that Democrats needed to be careful not to push away voters whom Trump won in 2016, or else risk another, similar candidate.

“I also know we can’t afford to have Donald Trump as president,” she said.

But Stanley Greenberg, a Democratic pollster who advised President Bill Clinton when he successfully pushed the party to the center in the 1990s, said Biden would be able to delay divisive party fights because of the enormity of the crises he faces.

“The nature of the pandemic and the economic and health crisis is so deep, he will inherit a mandate of urgency,” he said. “Unity within the party and unity within the country.”

Since President Donald Trump won the White House in 2016, a shocked Democratic Party had been united behind the mission of defeating him. Four years later, with the election of Joe Biden, the divides that have long simmered among Democrats are now beginning to burst into the open, as the president-elect confronts deep generational and ideological differences among congressional lawmakers, activists and the party’s grassroots base.

Since President Donald Trump won the White House in 2016, a shocked Democratic Party had been united behind the mission of defeating him. Four years later, with the election of Joe Biden, the divides that have long simmered among Democrats are now beginning to burst into the open, as the president-elect confronts deep generational and ideological differences among congressional lawmakers, activists and the party’s grassroots base. The fault lines began to emerge within hours of Biden’s victory. Moderates argued that his success, particularly in industrial Midwestern states that Trump seized from the Democrats in 2016, was proof that a candidate who resisted progressive litmus tests was best positioned to win back voters who had abandoned the Democratic Party. Those tests included single-payer health care, aggressive measures to combat climate change and expanding the Supreme Court. Also read: Putin is waiting for official results before congratulating Joe Biden “The progressives said we need a base candidate,” said Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago and White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama, referring to a nominee who appeals to the left wing of the party. “No we didn’t. We needed someone to get swing voters. If you campaign appropriately, you can make that a governing transformation.” Moderate Democrats said they were hopeful the urgency of the problems confronting the nation would delay the inevitable reckoning the party faces between its ideological wings. Beyond that, they said that a disappointing showing by Democrats in congressional races — the party lost seats in the House and faces a struggle for even narrow control of the Senate — would give liberal Democrats less of a platform to push Biden to the left. After a fiery call among members of the House Democratic caucus, in which some argued that progressives who have entertained ideas like defunding the police or “Medicare for All” had cost the party congressional seats, some Democratic leaders pushed further away from the left wing. Rep. Conor Lamb, a moderate from Pennsylvania who survived a difficult Republican challenge, said the results should be a wake-up call to the left. “What we heard from a lot of our constituents was that they do not like the Democratic message when it comes to police in Western Pennsylvania, and when it comes to jobs and energy,” he said. “And that we need to do a lot of work to fix that.” Also read: After Jared, Melania advises Donald Trump to accept US election 2020 results But after four years of pent-up frustration and energy, that may prove unlikely. By every early indication, Biden’s election has emboldened progressive energy, no matter the setbacks in the congressional races. There is an up-and-coming generation of elected Democratic officials who have been waiting in the wings, eager to take the lead in formulating a platform for the party. After supporting Biden as a means of defeating Trump, younger and more progressive Democrats who have gained a foothold in Congress and among party activists are skeptical about his future administration. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, setting policy terms in a statement after Biden was declared victorious, said: “A Band-Aid approach won’t get the job done. We have a mandate for action on bold plans to meet these twin health and economic crises.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a leading voice of the party’s left wing, said in a phone interview that the next few weeks would set the tone for how the incoming administration will be received by liberal activists. “I think that’s what people are keeping an eye out for: Is this administration going to be actively hostile and try to put in appointments that are going to just squash progressives and organizing?” Ocasio-Cortez said. “ I don’t envy the Biden team. It’s a very delicate balance. But I think it’s really important to strike a good one. Because it sends a very, very powerful message on the intention to govern.” The fault lines crystallize the task ahead for Biden, who has long seen himself as a pragmatic consensus builder rather than a strict ideologue. In addition to the fractures within his party, Biden’s administration will also have to navigate a Republican Senate, unless Democrats wrest two seats in Georgia during closely watched runoff elections in January. If the party doesn’t win those seats, an already divided Washington looks likely to endure. Some moderate Democratic leaders urged the president-elect to head off any internal conflict by embracing policies both sides can agree on and reaching out to the left. Also read: Nine things the Biden administration could do quickly on the environment “The first thing I would do if I were Joe Biden is I’d propose a $15-an-hour minimum wage,” said Edward G. Rendell, the former governor of Pennsylvania and a former chair of the Democratic National Committee. “That’s something that both sides agree on. That would be the first action on behalf of President Biden to show there are significant parts of the progressive agenda that need to be acted on.” Given the two Senate runoffs taking place in Georgia — contests that will determine whether Biden will, like Obama, begin his first term with a unified Washington — Biden might be initially reluctant to embrace positions that could make it easier for Republicans in Georgia to paint Democrats as out-of-touch, radical socialists. Biden has made clear he intends for his administration's Cabinet to be diverse in race, gender and sexual orientation — but a left wing that has become disenchanted with the inherent idea of representation as progress will be looking for concessions of power. Grassroots political groups on the left had a dual message for the president-elect: Congratulations — and here’s a list of demands. Several signaled that they expected Biden to defer to some demands of progressives, not only by selecting people from that wing of the party for key Cabinet positions but also by excluding people with a Wall Street or lobbying background from the administration's hiring process. However, Biden’s flexibility in making Cabinet appointments sought by the left will be constrained if the Senate remains in Republican hands. Jamaal Bowman, a progressive New York Democrat who will be sworn into the next Congress, took the view that Biden’s victory was not an affirmation of moderate ideology, but a testament to a diverse Democratic Party that had embraced the shared goal of defeating an unpopular president. He cited the work during the general election of progressive groups and candidates who opposed Biden during the Democratic primary, including young climate organizers like the Sunrise Movement — and said they should be rewarded. “We have to move past the moderate-versus-liberal conversations and start speaking and moving together as a strong party,” Bowman said. “We have organizations like the Sunrise Movement and candidates like Jamaal Bowman who have gone out of our way to get Joe Biden elected.” Ocasio-Cortez said she expected a long-term fight, particularly given the setbacks for Democrats in the congressional contests. She also cited Cabinet appointments as a way to measure Biden’s ideological core. She said some people, including Emanuel, should not play a role in the party’s future. The former mayor has been floated by some in Biden’s inner circle to lead a department like housing or transportation. “Someone like Rahm Emanuel would be a pretty divisive pick,” she said, citing his record as mayor on racial justice and his opposition to teachers’ unions. “And it would signal, I think, a hostile approach to the grassroots and the progressive wing of the party.” It is unclear what kind of audience progressives will find with Biden and his administration. Throughout the year, his campaign sought to project unity through measures like a joint task force with supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, which led a campaign to adopt some of the left wing’s policy proposals, including plans around college debt. But Biden stopped short of the biggest ideas, like eliminating the Electoral College or embracing statehood for Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Some leading Democratic Party moderates said they supported many of the ideological goals on the left but, reflecting what has long been a divide between the two wings, urged caution, particularly because of Democratic losses in other races. “We all have to take a deep breath,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Democrat from Michigan, a state that Trump snatched from Democrats in 2016 but that Biden won back this year. “I know there are going to be people who are pushing for change. I’m one of those people who want Medicare for All.” She argued that Democrats needed to be careful not to push away voters whom Trump won in 2016, or else risk another, similar candidate. “I also know we can’t afford to have Donald Trump as president,” she said. But Stanley Greenberg, a Democratic pollster who advised President Bill Clinton when he successfully pushed the party to the center in the 1990s, said Biden would be able to delay divisive party fights because of the enormity of the crises he faces. “The nature of the pandemic and the economic and health crisis is so deep, he will inherit a mandate of urgency,” he said. “Unity within the party and unity within the country.”

An early test for Biden: Managing a divided Democratic Party

United States President-elect Joe Biden is expected to set up a coronavirus task force today in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted.

Set to take over the White House in January, Biden will meet an advisory board co-chaired by Vivek Murthy, the former Surgeon General, along with Marcella Nunez-Smith - Yale University Associate Professor, and David Kessler - the former commissioner for Food and Drug Administration.&nbsp;

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/russian-president-putin-is-waiting-for-official-results-before-congratulating-joe-biden-341889" hreflang="en">Russian President Putin is waiting for official results before congratulating Joe Biden</a>

As of now, more than 237,000 Americans have lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden is also set to provide his remarks on the potential plan for fighting COVID-19 in Wilmington, Delaware. He will also discuss ways in which he intends to rebuild the US economy.

"Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts,"&nbsp;Biden said on Monday.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/opinions-blogs/in-a-changing-world-what-should-a-biden-foreign-policy-look-like-341883" hreflang="en">In a changing world, what should a Biden foreign policy look like?</a>

In addition, scientists and coronavirus experts will analyse how and when to reopen schools, and also ways to tackle racial inequalities.

Rick Bright, who was removed from the top position at Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will be reinstated under Biden’s plans. Biden will also induct Luciana Borio, a specialist in complex public health emergencies.

Donald Trump has often sidelined scientists on ways to deal with the pandemic, and has himself recovered from COVID-19.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="http://13.235.153.162/world/nine-things-the-biden-administration-could-do-quickly-on-the-environment-341877" hreflang="en">Nine things the Biden administration could do quickly on the environment</a>

For the first time since October 20, Vice President Mike Pence will meet the White House coronavirus task force.

On Saturday, Biden surpassed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes, which are intrinsic to winning the US election.

As of now, Biden has beaten Trump by more than 4 million votes, making Trump the first US president to lose re-election since 1992.

United States President-elect Joe Biden is expected to set up a coronavirus task force today in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted.

United States President-elect Joe Biden is expected to set up a coronavirus task force today in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted. Set to take over the White House in January, Biden will meet an advisory board co-chaired by Vivek Murthy, the former Surgeon General, along with Marcella Nunez-Smith - Yale University Associate Professor, and David Kessler - the former commissioner for Food and Drug Administration. Also read: Russian President Putin is waiting for official results before congratulating Joe Biden As of now, more than 237,000 Americans have lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden is also set to provide his remarks on the potential plan for fighting COVID-19 in Wilmington, Delaware. He will also discuss ways in which he intends to rebuild the US economy. "Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts," Biden said on Monday. Also read: In a changing world, what should a Biden foreign policy look like? In addition, scientists and coronavirus experts will analyse how and when to reopen schools, and also ways to tackle racial inequalities. Rick Bright, who was removed from the top position at Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority will be reinstated under Biden’s plans. Biden will also induct Luciana Borio, a specialist in complex public health emergencies. Donald Trump has often sidelined scientists on ways to deal with the pandemic, and has himself recovered from COVID-19. Also read: Nine things the Biden administration could do quickly on the environment For the first time since October 20, Vice President Mike Pence will meet the White House coronavirus task force. On Saturday, Biden surpassed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes, which are intrinsic to winning the US election. As of now, Biden has beaten Trump by more than 4 million votes, making Trump the first US president to lose re-election since 1992.

As US President-elect, Joe Biden set to convene COVID-19 task force

Indian-American physician Dr Vivek Murthy today named co-chair of the COVID-19 Advisory Board that will guide US President on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 236,000 lives in the country. 
 
<a href="wionews.com/world/as-us-president-elect-joe-biden-set-to-convene-covid-19-task-force-341911">Also read | As US President-elect, Joe Biden set to convene COVID-19 task force</a> 
 
Biden has set up this coronavirus task force in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted.

Dr Vivek Murthy along with two other co-chairs would lead a team of leading public health experts.

Vivek Hallegere Murthy is a physician and former vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the nineteenth Surgeon General of the United States.

The appointment of Murthy comes at a time when the United States is witnessing a record number of Covid-19 infections.

Murthy, 43, who originally hails from Karnataka, was appointed America’s 19th Surgeon General by then-president Barack Obama in 2014.

Born in the UK, he was the youngest ever to hold the office at the age of 37. He was later asked to step down by the Trump administration.

Biden, in his victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday night, said: “On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as Transition Advisors to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021”.

The President-elect, however, did not announce who would lead that task force.

The Washington Post said that the task force would be co-chaired by Dr Murthy, the former Surgeon General, and David Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

(With inputs from agencies)

Indian-American physician Dr Vivek Murthy today named co-chair of the COVID-19 Advisory Board that will guide US President on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 236,000 lives in the country.

Indian-American physician Dr Vivek Murthy today named co-chair of the COVID-19 Advisory Board that will guide US President on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 236,000 lives in the country. Also read | As US President-elect, Joe Biden set to convene COVID-19 task force Biden has set up this coronavirus task force in a bid to counter the ongoing virus crisis in the country, whereby the highest number of fatalities across the world have been inducted. Dr Vivek Murthy along with two other co-chairs would lead a team of leading public health experts. Vivek Hallegere Murthy is a physician and former vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps who served as the nineteenth Surgeon General of the United States. The appointment of Murthy comes at a time when the United States is witnessing a record number of Covid-19 infections. Murthy, 43, who originally hails from Karnataka, was appointed America’s 19th Surgeon General by then-president Barack Obama in 2014. Born in the UK, he was the youngest ever to hold the office at the age of 37. He was later asked to step down by the Trump administration. Biden, in his victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware on Saturday night, said: “On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as Transition Advisors to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blueprint that starts on January 20th, 2021”. The President-elect, however, did not announce who would lead that task force. The Washington Post said that the task force would be co-chaired by Dr Murthy, the former Surgeon General, and David Kessler, a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner. (With inputs from agencies)

Biden picks Indian American to lead the new task force to tackle COVID crisis in US

After US media declared Joe Biden the winner of US Presidential Election, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday said the next US administration has an opportunity to "compensate for its previous mistakes". 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/biden-vows-to-unite-america-in-first-address-as-us-president-elect-341540">Also read | Biden vows to unite America in first address as US president-elect</a> 
 
"Now there is an opportunity for the future American administration to compensate for its previous mistakes and return to the path of adherence to international commitments," Rouhani said, in a statement on his official website. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/slated-to-be-first-woman-us-vice-president-harris-vows-will-not-be-the-last-341555">Also read |&nbsp;Slated to be first woman US vice-president, Harris vows 'will not be the last'</a>

Under President Donald Trump, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated, reaching fever-pitch earlier this year. One of Trump's signature foreign policy moves was unilaterally withdrawing the U.S. from Iran's nuclear deal in 2018, which had seen Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

This US "administration's harmful and wrong policy for the past three years was not only condemned by people all around the world but was also opposed by the people of (the US) in the recent election," Rouhani said.

He added that the Iranian people's "heroic resistance against the imposed economic war" by the Trump administration "proved that America's maximum pressure policy is doomed to fail." 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/kamala-harris-once-asked-aunt-in-india-to-break-coconuts-for-her-good-luck-at-hindu-temple-321157">Also read |&nbsp;Kamala Harris once asked aunt in India to break coconuts for her good luck at Hindu temple</a>

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the US election result would have "no effect" on Tehran's policies towards Washington.

Biden has said during his campaign that he plans to embark on a "credible path to return to diplomacy" with Iran, and raised the possibility of returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated when he was vice president under Barack Obama.

Earlier, major US news networks declared Biden as the winner of the November 3 presidential election after he crossed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure victory.

The news of Biden's win led to celebrations in major cities across the US, including outside the White House in Washington DC.

(With inputs from agencies)

After US media declared Joe Biden the winner of US Presidential Election, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday said the next US administration has an opportunity to "compensate for its previous mistakes".

After US media declared Joe Biden the winner of US Presidential Election, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday said the next US administration has an opportunity to "compensate for its previous mistakes". Also read | Biden vows to unite America in first address as US president-elect "Now there is an opportunity for the future American administration to compensate for its previous mistakes and return to the path of adherence to international commitments," Rouhani said, in a statement on his official website. Also read | Slated to be first woman US vice-president, Harris vows 'will not be the last' Under President Donald Trump, tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated, reaching fever-pitch earlier this year. One of Trump's signature foreign policy moves was unilaterally withdrawing the U.S. from Iran's nuclear deal in 2018, which had seen Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. This US "administration's harmful and wrong policy for the past three years was not only condemned by people all around the world but was also opposed by the people of (the US) in the recent election," Rouhani said. He added that the Iranian people's "heroic resistance against the imposed economic war" by the Trump administration "proved that America's maximum pressure policy is doomed to fail." Also read | Kamala Harris once asked aunt in India to break coconuts for her good luck at Hindu temple Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the US election result would have "no effect" on Tehran's policies towards Washington. Biden has said during his campaign that he plans to embark on a "credible path to return to diplomacy" with Iran, and raised the possibility of returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated when he was vice president under Barack Obama. Earlier, major US news networks declared Biden as the winner of the November 3 presidential election after he crossed the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure victory. The news of Biden's win led to celebrations in major cities across the US, including outside the White House in Washington DC. (With inputs from agencies)

‘Opportunity to compensate for previous mistakes’: Rouhani calls on Biden to return to nuclear deal

When US President-elect Joe Biden was in India's financial capital in 2013, he had told an audience that his distant relatives live in Mumbai.

Mr Biden reiterated his claim two years later at an event in Washington, saying there are five Bidens living in Mumbai.

With the 77-year-old Democrat set to take oath as the 46th US President in just over two months, nobody in Mumbai has so far turned up to claim that he is Mr Biden's relative.

Decades after he received a letter from someone by the last name of Biden from Mumbai, soon after becoming a senator, Joe Biden learned that his "great, great, great, great, great grandfather" had worked in the East India Company.

"There are five Bidens in Mumbai, India," Mr Biden, then Vice President told a Washington audience in 2015 at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of India-US civil nuclear deal.

In 2013, when Mr Biden travelled to Mumbai on his first vice presidential trip to India, he spoke about this letter he received when he became the senator for the first time several decades ago.

In his address to the Bombay Stock Exchange on July 24, 2013, Joe Biden narrated his story of the "Biden from Mumbai".

"It's an honour to be back in India and to be here in Mumbai. Off script for a second here, I was reminded I was elected to the United States Senate when I was a 29-year-old kid back in 1972, and one of the first letters I received and I regret I never followed up on it.

"Maybe, some genealogist in the audience can follow up for me, but I received a letter from a gentleman named Biden - Biden, my name - from Mumbai, asserting that we were related," Joe Biden had told the Mumbai audience seven years ago.

In his 2015 speech in Washington, the President-elect had claimed that his "great, great, great, great, great grandfather" George Biden was a Captain in the East India Trading company and after retirement, decided to settle in India and married an Indian woman.

Mr Biden had also said someone provided him with the details including the phone numbers of the Bidens in Mumbai.

He had informed the audience that he was yet to call his Mumbai relatives but was planning to do so.

It is not clear if Joe Biden did manage to contact them as the five Bidens he spoke of have not "surfaced" yet.

When US President-elect Joe Biden was in India's financial capital in 2013, he had told an audience that his distant relatives live in Mumbai. Mr Biden reiterated his claim two years later at an event in Washington, saying there are five Bidens living in Mumbai.

When US President-elect Joe Biden was in India's financial capital in 2013, he had told an audience that his distant relatives live in Mumbai. Mr Biden reiterated his claim two years later at an event in Washington, saying there are five Bidens living in Mumbai. With the 77-year-old Democrat set to take oath as the 46th US President in just over two months, nobody in Mumbai has so far turned up to claim that he is Mr Biden's relative. Decades after he received a letter from someone by the last name of Biden from Mumbai, soon after becoming a senator, Joe Biden learned that his "great, great, great, great, great grandfather" had worked in the East India Company. "There are five Bidens in Mumbai, India," Mr Biden, then Vice President told a Washington audience in 2015 at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of India-US civil nuclear deal. In 2013, when Mr Biden travelled to Mumbai on his first vice presidential trip to India, he spoke about this letter he received when he became the senator for the first time several decades ago. In his address to the Bombay Stock Exchange on July 24, 2013, Joe Biden narrated his story of the "Biden from Mumbai". "It's an honour to be back in India and to be here in Mumbai. Off script for a second here, I was reminded I was elected to the United States Senate when I was a 29-year-old kid back in 1972, and one of the first letters I received and I regret I never followed up on it. "Maybe, some genealogist in the audience can follow up for me, but I received a letter from a gentleman named Biden - Biden, my name - from Mumbai, asserting that we were related," Joe Biden had told the Mumbai audience seven years ago. In his 2015 speech in Washington, the President-elect had claimed that his "great, great, great, great, great grandfather" George Biden was a Captain in the East India Trading company and after retirement, decided to settle in India and married an Indian woman. Mr Biden had also said someone provided him with the details including the phone numbers of the Bidens in Mumbai. He had informed the audience that he was yet to call his Mumbai relatives but was planning to do so. It is not clear if Joe Biden did manage to contact them as the five Bidens he spoke of have not "surfaced" yet.

‘5 Bidens in Mumbai’: When Joe Biden spoke of distant relatives in India 

U.S. relations with China are the worst since the countries normalized ties four decades ago. America’s allies in Europe are alienated. The most important nuclear anti-proliferation treaty is about to expire with Russia. Iran is amassing enriched nuclear fuel again, and North Korea is brandishing its atomic arsenal.

Not to mention global warming, refugee crises and looming famines in some of the poorest places on earth, all amplified by the pandemic.

President-elect Joe Biden is inheriting a landscape of challenges and ill will toward the United States in countries hostile to President Donald Trump’s “America First” mantra, his unpredictability, embrace of autocratic leaders and resistance to international cooperation. Biden also could face difficulties in dealing with governments that had hoped for Trump’s reelection — particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia, which share the president’s deep antipathy toward Iran.

But Biden’s past as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as vice president in the Obama administration has given him a familiarity with international affairs that could work to his advantage, foreign policy experts who know him say.

“President Trump has lowered the bar so much that it wouldn’t take much for Biden to change the perception dramatically,” said Robert Malley, chief executive of the International Crisis Group and a former adviser in the Obama White House. “Saying a few of the things Trump hasn’t said — to rewind the tape on multilateralism, climate change, human rights — will sound very loud and significant.”

Here are the most pressing foreign policy areas the Biden administration will face:

The Challenge of U.S.-China Relations

Nothing is more urgent, in the eyes of many experts, than reversing the downward trajectory of relations with China, the economic superpower and geopolitical rival that Trump has engaged in what many are calling a new Cold War. Disputes over trade, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and technology have metastasized during Trump’s term, his critics say, worsened by the president’s racist declarations that China infected the world with the coronavirus and should be held accountable.

“China is kind of the radioactive core of America’s foreign policy issues,” said Orville Schell, director of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations.

Biden has not necessarily helped himself with his own negative depiction of China and its authoritarian leader, President Xi Jinping, during the 2020 campaign. The two were once seen as having developed a friendly relationship during the Obama years. But Biden, perhaps acting partly to counter Trump’s accusations that he would be lenient toward China, has recently called Xi a “thug.”

The Middle East: Shifts on Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran?

Biden has vowed to reverse what he called the “dangerous failure” of Trump’s Iran policy, which repudiated the 2015 nuclear agreement and replaced it with tightening sanctions that have caused deep economic damage in Iran and left the United States largely isolated on this issue. Biden has offered to rejoin the agreement, which constricts Iran’s nuclear capabilities if Iran adheres to its provisions and commits to further negotiations. He also has pledged to immediately nullify Trump’s travel ban affecting Iran and several other Muslim-majority countries.

Whether Iran’s hierarchy will accept Biden’s approach is unclear. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has said the United States is untrustworthy regardless who is in the White House. At the same time, “Iran is desperate for a deal,” said Cliff Kupchan, chair of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy.

Still, Kupchan said, Biden will face enormous difficulties in any negotiations with Iran aimed at strengthening restrictions on its nuclear activities — weaknesses Trump had cited to justify renouncing the nuclear agreement.

“The substance will be tough; we’ve seen this movie, and it’s not easy,” Kupchan said. “I think Biden’s challenge is that it will not end up blowing up in his face.”

Biden’s Iran policy could alienate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who leveraged Trump’s confrontational approach to help strengthen Israel’s relations with Gulf Arab countries, punctuated by normalization of diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. How Biden manages relations with Saudi Arabia, which considers Iran an enemy, will also be a challenge.

“There’s a very hard square to circle here,” Kupchan said.

Trump’s extremely favorable treatment of Israel in the protracted conflict with the Palestinians also could prove nettlesome as Biden navigates a different path in the Middle East. He has criticized Israeli settlement construction in occupied lands the Palestinians want for a future state. And he is likely to restore contacts with the Palestinian leadership.

“Benjamin Netanyahu can expect an uncomfortable period of adjustment,” an Israeli columnist, Yossi Verter, wrote Friday in the Haaretz newspaper.

At the same time, Biden also has a history of cordial relations with Netanyahu. Biden has said he would not reverse Trump’s transfer of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv — a relocation that deeply angered the Palestinians.

Repairing Relations With Europe and Navigating Brexit

While Trump often disparaged the European Union and strongly encouraged Britain’s exit from the bloc, Biden has expressed the opposite position. Like former President Barack Obama, he supported close U.S. relations with bloc leaders and opposed Brexit.

Biden’s ascendance could prove especially awkward for Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, who had embraced Trump and had been counting on achieving a trade deal with the United States before his country’s divorce from the bloc takes full effect. Biden may be in no hurry to complete such an agreement.

While many Europeans will be happy to see Trump go, the damage they say he has done to America’s reliability will not be easily erased.

“We had differences, but there was never a basic mistrust about having common views of the world,” Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former prime minister of Norway, told The New York Times last month. Over the past four years, she said, European leaders had learned they could “no longer take for granted that they can trust the U.S., even on basic things.”

Confronting North Korea’s Nuclear Threat

Trump has described his friendship and three meetings with Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, as a success that averted war with the nuclear-armed hermetic country. But critics say Trump’s approach not only failed to persuade Kim to relinquish his arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles, it bought Kim time to strengthen them. Last month the North unveiled what appeared to be its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile.

“On Trump’s watch, the North’s nuclear weapons program has grown apace, its missile capabilities have expanded, and Pyongyang can now target the United States with an ICBM,” said Evans J.R. Revere, a former State Department official and expert on North Korea. “That is the legacy that Trump will soon pass on to Biden, and it will be an enormous burden.”

Biden, who has been described by North Korea’s official news agency as a rabid dog that “must be beaten to death with a stick,” has criticized Trump’s approach as appeasement of a dictator. Biden has said he would press for denuclearization and “stand with South Korea” but has not specified how he would deal with North Korean belligerence.

A Likely Tougher Approach to Russia and Putin

Biden has long asserted that he would take a much harder line with Russia than Trump, who questioned NATO’s usefulness, doubted intelligence warnings on Russia’s interference in U.S. elections, admired President Vladimir Putin and said that improving U.S. relations with the Kremlin would benefit all. Biden, who as vice president pushed for sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 — the biggest illegal land seizure in Europe since World War II — might seek to extend those sanctions and take other punitive steps.

While tensions with Russia would likely rise, arms control is one area where Biden and Putin share a desire for progress. Biden is set to be sworn in just a few weeks before the scheduled expiration of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. He has said he wants to negotiate an extension of the treaty without preconditions.

A Return to the Paris Agreement and International Commitments

Biden has said one of his first acts as president will be to rejoin the Paris Climate accord to limit global warming, which the United States officially left under Trump on Wednesday. Biden also has said he would restore U.S. membership in the World Health Organization, which Trump repudiated in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, describing the WHO as a lackey of China.

More broadly, Biden is expected to reverse many of the isolationist and anti-immigrant steps taken during the Trump administration, which are widely seen by Trump’s critics as shameful stains on America's standing in the world. Biden has said he would disband Trump’s immigration restrictions, stop construction of his border wall with Mexico, expand resources for immigrants and provide a path to citizenship for people living in the United States illegally.

Nonetheless, many of Trump’s policies had considerable support in the United States, and it remains to be seen how quickly or effectively Biden can change them. The convulsions that roiled American democracy and the divisive election have also sown doubts about Biden’s ability to deliver on his pledges.

“There is relief at a return to some kind of normalcy, but at the same time, history cannot be erased,” said Jean-Marie Guehenno, a French diplomat who is a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program and a former undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations at the United Nations. “The kind of soft power that the United States has enjoyed in the past has largely evaporated.”

U.S. relations with China are the worst since the countries normalized ties four decades ago. America’s allies in Europe are alienated. The most important nuclear anti-proliferation treaty is about to expire with Russia.

U.S. relations with China are the worst since the countries normalized ties four decades ago. America’s allies in Europe are alienated. The most important nuclear anti-proliferation treaty is about to expire with Russia. Iran is amassing enriched nuclear fuel again, and North Korea is brandishing its atomic arsenal. Not to mention global warming, refugee crises and looming famines in some of the poorest places on earth, all amplified by the pandemic. President-elect Joe Biden is inheriting a landscape of challenges and ill will toward the United States in countries hostile to President Donald Trump’s “America First” mantra, his unpredictability, embrace of autocratic leaders and resistance to international cooperation. Biden also could face difficulties in dealing with governments that had hoped for Trump’s reelection — particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia, which share the president’s deep antipathy toward Iran. But Biden’s past as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as vice president in the Obama administration has given him a familiarity with international affairs that could work to his advantage, foreign policy experts who know him say. “President Trump has lowered the bar so much that it wouldn’t take much for Biden to change the perception dramatically,” said Robert Malley, chief executive of the International Crisis Group and a former adviser in the Obama White House. “Saying a few of the things Trump hasn’t said — to rewind the tape on multilateralism, climate change, human rights — will sound very loud and significant.” Here are the most pressing foreign policy areas the Biden administration will face: The Challenge of U.S.-China Relations Nothing is more urgent, in the eyes of many experts, than reversing the downward trajectory of relations with China, the economic superpower and geopolitical rival that Trump has engaged in what many are calling a new Cold War. Disputes over trade, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and technology have metastasized during Trump’s term, his critics say, worsened by the president’s racist declarations that China infected the world with the coronavirus and should be held accountable. “China is kind of the radioactive core of America’s foreign policy issues,” said Orville Schell, director of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations. Biden has not necessarily helped himself with his own negative depiction of China and its authoritarian leader, President Xi Jinping, during the 2020 campaign. The two were once seen as having developed a friendly relationship during the Obama years. But Biden, perhaps acting partly to counter Trump’s accusations that he would be lenient toward China, has recently called Xi a “thug.” The Middle East: Shifts on Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran? Biden has vowed to reverse what he called the “dangerous failure” of Trump’s Iran policy, which repudiated the 2015 nuclear agreement and replaced it with tightening sanctions that have caused deep economic damage in Iran and left the United States largely isolated on this issue. Biden has offered to rejoin the agreement, which constricts Iran’s nuclear capabilities if Iran adheres to its provisions and commits to further negotiations. He also has pledged to immediately nullify Trump’s travel ban affecting Iran and several other Muslim-majority countries. Whether Iran’s hierarchy will accept Biden’s approach is unclear. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, has said the United States is untrustworthy regardless who is in the White House. At the same time, “Iran is desperate for a deal,” said Cliff Kupchan, chair of the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy. Still, Kupchan said, Biden will face enormous difficulties in any negotiations with Iran aimed at strengthening restrictions on its nuclear activities — weaknesses Trump had cited to justify renouncing the nuclear agreement. “The substance will be tough; we’ve seen this movie, and it’s not easy,” Kupchan said. “I think Biden’s challenge is that it will not end up blowing up in his face.” Biden’s Iran policy could alienate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who leveraged Trump’s confrontational approach to help strengthen Israel’s relations with Gulf Arab countries, punctuated by normalization of diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. How Biden manages relations with Saudi Arabia, which considers Iran an enemy, will also be a challenge. “There’s a very hard square to circle here,” Kupchan said. Trump’s extremely favorable treatment of Israel in the protracted conflict with the Palestinians also could prove nettlesome as Biden navigates a different path in the Middle East. He has criticized Israeli settlement construction in occupied lands the Palestinians want for a future state. And he is likely to restore contacts with the Palestinian leadership. “Benjamin Netanyahu can expect an uncomfortable period of adjustment,” an Israeli columnist, Yossi Verter, wrote Friday in the Haaretz newspaper. At the same time, Biden also has a history of cordial relations with Netanyahu. Biden has said he would not reverse Trump’s transfer of the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv — a relocation that deeply angered the Palestinians. Repairing Relations With Europe and Navigating Brexit While Trump often disparaged the European Union and strongly encouraged Britain’s exit from the bloc, Biden has expressed the opposite position. Like former President Barack Obama, he supported close U.S. relations with bloc leaders and opposed Brexit. Biden’s ascendance could prove especially awkward for Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain, who had embraced Trump and had been counting on achieving a trade deal with the United States before his country’s divorce from the bloc takes full effect. Biden may be in no hurry to complete such an agreement. While many Europeans will be happy to see Trump go, the damage they say he has done to America’s reliability will not be easily erased. “We had differences, but there was never a basic mistrust about having common views of the world,” Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former prime minister of Norway, told The New York Times last month. Over the past four years, she said, European leaders had learned they could “no longer take for granted that they can trust the U.S., even on basic things.” Confronting North Korea’s Nuclear Threat Trump has described his friendship and three meetings with Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, as a success that averted war with the nuclear-armed hermetic country. But critics say Trump’s approach not only failed to persuade Kim to relinquish his arsenal of nuclear weapons and missiles, it bought Kim time to strengthen them. Last month the North unveiled what appeared to be its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile. “On Trump’s watch, the North’s nuclear weapons program has grown apace, its missile capabilities have expanded, and Pyongyang can now target the United States with an ICBM,” said Evans J.R. Revere, a former State Department official and expert on North Korea. “That is the legacy that Trump will soon pass on to Biden, and it will be an enormous burden.” Biden, who has been described by North Korea’s official news agency as a rabid dog that “must be beaten to death with a stick,” has criticized Trump’s approach as appeasement of a dictator. Biden has said he would press for denuclearization and “stand with South Korea” but has not specified how he would deal with North Korean belligerence. A Likely Tougher Approach to Russia and Putin Biden has long asserted that he would take a much harder line with Russia than Trump, who questioned NATO’s usefulness, doubted intelligence warnings on Russia’s interference in U.S. elections, admired President Vladimir Putin and said that improving U.S. relations with the Kremlin would benefit all. Biden, who as vice president pushed for sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014 — the biggest illegal land seizure in Europe since World War II — might seek to extend those sanctions and take other punitive steps. While tensions with Russia would likely rise, arms control is one area where Biden and Putin share a desire for progress. Biden is set to be sworn in just a few weeks before the scheduled expiration of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. He has said he wants to negotiate an extension of the treaty without preconditions. A Return to the Paris Agreement and International Commitments Biden has said one of his first acts as president will be to rejoin the Paris Climate accord to limit global warming, which the United States officially left under Trump on Wednesday. Biden also has said he would restore U.S. membership in the World Health Organization, which Trump repudiated in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, describing the WHO as a lackey of China. More broadly, Biden is expected to reverse many of the isolationist and anti-immigrant steps taken during the Trump administration, which are widely seen by Trump’s critics as shameful stains on America's standing in the world. Biden has said he would disband Trump’s immigration restrictions, stop construction of his border wall with Mexico, expand resources for immigrants and provide a path to citizenship for people living in the United States illegally. Nonetheless, many of Trump’s policies had considerable support in the United States, and it remains to be seen how quickly or effectively Biden can change them. The convulsions that roiled American democracy and the divisive election have also sown doubts about Biden’s ability to deliver on his pledges. “There is relief at a return to some kind of normalcy, but at the same time, history cannot be erased,” said Jean-Marie Guehenno, a French diplomat who is a fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program and a former undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations at the United Nations. “The kind of soft power that the United States has enjoyed in the past has largely evaporated.”

Biden to face long list of foreign challenges, with China no. 1

TV networks in the US have declared Joe Biden to have won US Election 2020. CNN, NBC News and CBS News and AP called the race in his favor, after projecting he had won the decisive state of Pennsylvania.

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JOE BIDEN DEFEATS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP 
 
The Associated Press declares Joe Biden the winner of a grueling campaign for the American presidency. He will lead a polarized nation through a historic collision of health, economic and social crises. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/APracecall?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#APracecall</a> <a href="https://t.co/lInwqjX3PB">pic.twitter.com/lInwqjX3PB</a>
— The Associated Press (@AP) <a href="https://twitter.com/AP/status/1325112826072084480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Biden, 77, is the oldest candidate ever elected to the White House. Trump, 74, has made as yet unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud, and his campaign has launched legal challenges in several states.

Biden spent eight years as vice president to Barack Obama. His victory comes in his third run for the nation's highest office.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-result-live-updates-us-networks-declare-biden-president-after-projecting-pennsylvania-victory-341275">Click here for latets updates on US Election 2020</a>

After the declaration by the networks, Biden tweeted and thanked the US voters

"America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country.The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me. America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not," he tweeted.

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America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. 
 
The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. 
 
I will keep the faith that you have placed in me. <a href="https://t.co/moA9qhmjn8">pic.twitter.com/moA9qhmjn8</a>
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1325118992785223682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

If Biden's victory is indeed declared by the election officials, Kamala Harris will&nbsp;become the first woman of Indian heritage to assume the office of Vice President of United States of America. Both of them&nbsp;will be sworn in on January 20

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-results-we-did-it-joe-you-are-going-to-be-next-president-says-kamala-harris-as-video-goes-viral-341483">US election results: We did it, Joe, you are going to be next president, says Kamala Harris as video goes viral</a> 
 
Kamala Harris had this to say in her tweet

"This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started," she tweeted.

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This election is about so much more than <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoeBiden</a> or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.<a href="https://t.co/Bb9JZpggLN">pic.twitter.com/Bb9JZpggLN</a>
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) <a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1325119592130252801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

But a few formalities remain. The states have till December 8 to resolve disputes, if any, about vote totals and certify the winner.

On December 14, members of the electoral college will cast their votes for the president.

On January&nbsp;6, 2021 US Congress will meet to count electoral votes and declare a winner.

US Election 2020 has been a chaotic affair from the start. Incumbent President Donald Trump had levelled allegations that US Election 2020 will be rigged. It will be interesting to see what Trump does now considering his previous threats of taking legal measures in connection with US Election 2020 result.

TV networks in the US have declared Joe Biden to have won US Election 2020. CNN, NBC News and CBS News and AP called the race in his favor, after projecting he had won the decisive state of Pennsylvania.

TV networks in the US have declared Joe Biden to have won US Election 2020. CNN, NBC News and CBS News and AP called the race in his favor, after projecting he had won the decisive state of Pennsylvania. JOE BIDEN DEFEATS PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP The Associated Press declares Joe Biden the winner of a grueling campaign for the American presidency. He will lead a polarized nation through a historic collision of health, economic and social crises. #APracecall pic.twitter.com/lInwqjX3PB — The Associated Press (@AP) November 7, 2020 × Biden, 77, is the oldest candidate ever elected to the White House. Trump, 74, has made as yet unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud, and his campaign has launched legal challenges in several states. Biden spent eight years as vice president to Barack Obama. His victory comes in his third run for the nation's highest office. Click here for latets updates on US Election 2020 After the declaration by the networks, Biden tweeted and thanked the US voters "America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country.The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me. America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not," he tweeted. America, I’m honored that you have chosen me to lead our great country. The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans — whether you voted for me or not. I will keep the faith that you have placed in me. pic.twitter.com/moA9qhmjn8 — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 7, 2020 × If Biden's victory is indeed declared by the election officials, Kamala Harris will become the first woman of Indian heritage to assume the office of Vice President of United States of America. Both of them will be sworn in on January 20 Also Read | US election results: We did it, Joe, you are going to be next president, says Kamala Harris as video goes viral Kamala Harris had this to say in her tweet "This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started," she tweeted. This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Let’s get started.pic.twitter.com/Bb9JZpggLN — Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) November 7, 2020 × But a few formalities remain. The states have till December 8 to resolve disputes, if any, about vote totals and certify the winner. On December 14, members of the electoral college will cast their votes for the president. On January 6, 2021 US Congress will meet to count electoral votes and declare a winner. US Election 2020 has been a chaotic affair from the start. Incumbent President Donald Trump had levelled allegations that US Election 2020 will be rigged. It will be interesting to see what Trump does now considering his previous threats of taking legal measures in connection with US Election 2020 result.

US Election 2020 Result: US networks project Biden's victory in Pennsylvania, declare him President

As Donald Trump and Joe Biden continue their tussle for power, the US is witnessing a major spike in cases of the Wuhan Coronavirus. Palki Sharma Upadhyay tells you more about America's second wave.

Gravitas: As Trump-Biden battle for power, COVID-19 cases spike in America

The Trump camp has lost two legal fights over claims of voter fraud. But on the internet, Trump's claims have taken a life of their own. Palki Sharma Upadhyay takes you inside the alternative reality of the US election, where Americans believe voter fraud is real.

Gravitas: Trump's claims of voter fraud take a life of their own

Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Friday (November 6) said he expects a recount due to the small margin for the presidential election in the battleground state, where Democrat Joe Biden has a small lead over President Donald Trump of just over 1,000 votes.

Georgia results to undergo a recount in US presidential election

Democrat Joe Biden expanded his narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia on Friday, putting him on the verge of winning the White House three days after polls closed.

Biden close to White House victory as he builds leads in Pennsylvania, Georgia

Why is Donald Trump battling for the Presidency, when a defeat looks imminent? Palki Sharma Upadhyay decodes the situation in the United States with Simon Marks in Washington DC.

Gravitas: Decoding the election nightmare in America

Counting of votes is still on in the US, but Biden is just one step closer to victory. The Secret Service has ramped up Biden's security. Meanwhile, the Trump camp has lost the legal fight to challenge the results in Georgia and Michigan. Palki Sharma Upadhyay has more.

Gravitas: Secret Service steps up the security of Joe Biden

Three days have passed, we still don't have a result in the US Presidential Election. Why is it taking so long? Palki Sharma Upadhyay explains.

Gravitas: Explained: The delay in the US Election Results

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